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journal: think
DNA and Binary
Everything I wonder could be summed up in this one question: Is it possible that the way our DNA works influenced us subliminally in the creation of binary?
I know, I know. This isn’t a completely tech article. Don’t worry. I’ll be back to normal soon enough.
Lately, I’ve been mulling over some things. At school, I am learning about the human genome: how everything that builds us and defines who we are is controlled by a so-called “parts list” that is the DNA. The DNA is made up of only four different little amino acids that are expressed with letters: A, C, G, and T, which are combined in pairs. A can only bond with T and so on. That is only the first part of what got me thinking.
The second part is a video on the hard drive and the comments it got on Ars: How it is such a simple but complex device. This triggered the thought that “Isn’t everything in a computer the same in that way?” Despite having whole operating systems that can draw more colors that the human eye can detect and store such vast amounts of information, everything, at its base, is just 1s and 0s cobbled together in a way that makes everything work.
The amazing part is just how similar the ones and zeroes are to the base pairs in the DNA: either AT or CG. Either 1 or 0. The somewhat spooky bit is that even though the DNA came well before binary, we created binary before we knew about DNA.
Everything I wonder could be summed up in this one question: Is it possible that the way our DNA works influenced us subliminally in the creation of binary?
They share some similarities outside of just being a yes or no answer. For instance, you can’t just splice in the pairs you want into a strand of DNA and have it work, just like you can’t change a couple ones and zeroes here and there to make the software work. They both have to be engineered from scratch each time you want to change something. Luckily with software, we can just change the code (which is an abstraction of the binary so that humans can understand it) and recompile the software. It’s re-engineered from scratch with the new code. We can’t just recompile our DNA.
But how long until we can? My guess is a very long time, since not only do we have to worry about the technological difficulties, we have to get over the morality hurdles as well. Morality, as many know, is usually an uphill battle for science, though this may be a much more difficult task than, say for an example, stem cell research because the thought of genetic modification makes many more and a larger range of us uneasy, myself included.
Indeed, this subject is very interesting, to say the least. A very educating program called Cracking the Code of Life, by NOVA, is what we watched in school. It is a 16 part, 2-hour program. I highly recommend that those wanting to learn more watch a few parts, especially part 15.
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| Liam | comments | views |
thinkback
Actually, with DNA, there are 4 possibilities, since there are 4 different base letters. Yes, A can only go to T, but any of the 4 letters can go in any slot. So DNA is much more like quarterniary (if there is such a word).
But in any case, yeah, it’s a very interesting subject, and one I would take great pleasure in reading about if you chose to write about it more often.
| Apr. 23, 2006 | |
| Arden | 9:48 pm |
I think that changing DNA after you are concieved will never come close to what you can change before conception. I also think that although DNA defines what you are, it can’t define who.
I think the creation of binary came about because it is convenient, we’ve made attempts at analog computers and it’s really difficult. It’s like the difference between asynchronous and synchronous sequential logic. Just imagine making an analog memory circuit. I think that the nervous system itself is more like an analog computer, when you have an intense stimulus the nerves transmit more neurotransmitters, which is suggestive of a process that is analog. The DNA itself resembling binaray is most likely a coincidence. When cells are made the DNA is not followed exactly, and you can see these effects with identical twins, they don’t look exactly the same, the environment plays a role in how the DNA is “executed”.
| Apr. 25, 2006 | |
| 1:03 am |
Binary came about because for a while, it was the only thing possible. Remember, the first computers used punch cards instead of hard drives. These cards had rows and rows of holes punched in them, resembling either an on or an off state if there was a hole or no hole. After that were the vacuum tube computers, which were literally on/off as well because they were basically just light bulbs. Even now, the existence of data is based on the difference between a magnetic or electrical charge being present (on) or absent (off) in a CPU or on a disk platter. It would really be much more difficult to build a computer based on 4 different states instead of just 2, since right now it’s either 0 or not 0.
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| Apr. 25, 2006 | |
| Arden | 9:53 am |
1.
Good post Liam!
I’ve often marveled at the similarities between humans and computers. There’s a lot about computers that can’t touch what life does - but there’s no denying the stuff that is based on the same principles.
Then I start thinking about how we are, according to some beliefs, made in “God’s image”. And then I think how now we are making more and more creations that are at least semi-automated (up to a very basic form of AI) and how it seems we are attempting to do that exact same thing… You know, create robots in our image…